There are some crafts that were such a part of my childhood making stuff, that they are often overlooked in the search for that cool craft to create with our children. And of course, just because I think it was a common craft, it does not mean that everyone knows how to do it!

So just in case you have forgotten about this one, or if you have never done – it is paper lantern time!

All you need is some colored or patterned paper, some scissors and glue.

These lanterns can be made any size so just use what paper you have. This lantern uses scrapbook paper, but you could use paper decorated in a previous crafty, arty session.

Fold your sheet of paper in half. It doesn’t matter if you fold length-ways or width-ways as your lantern will still work but it will affect the shape.

Make a fold a couple of finger widths down from the unfolded edge on both sides. Unfold. This is the line you cut up to.

Cut through the folded edge up to the fold-line. Make each cut about the same width.

Open out and keeping the narrow strip that is not cut at the top and bottom, make it into a tube and glue in place.

Use another strip of paper to make a hanging loop and glue in place on each side of the top.

Pippi Pipecleaners and I have been ever so busy working on the next newsletter - and not all the creations would fit, so this wee fella got left out in the snow! But he does not mind – he understands that as cute as he is, he is not really a paper craft.

However he does have two bits of card on him, and that whole cuteness factor – so I am letting him hoot out a hello to everyone calling in on the website.

You will need a pine-cone that has opened, some white and black card, and cotton wool. Also some glue to bring him together, as well as a gluestick you will also need a stronger glue like a glue-gun or thick craft glue.

Have a look at your pine-cone and decide which side you want for the front.

Pull pieces from the cotton wool and using a stick, push the cotton wool between the gaps in the pine-cone. Try not to cover the seedpods completely as you want them to add texture to the body of the owl.

Cut a heart shape from the white card that fits your cone. This will become the face of the owl.

Cut two circles from the black card for the eyes and glue on the heart shape. We also added a couple of googly eyes but you could use some white paper to make eyes as well.

Cover the rest of the heart shape with glue. Glue the cotton wool to the face making sure the black eyes are not covered.

Using a glue-gun, apply a liberal amount of glue to the cone and press the face into place. Hold until the glue dries.

Cut a rough foot shape for the bottom of the owl. This will allow your finished owl to stand up. Flatten the bottom of the owl as well as you can by folding out the seedpods. Apply a generous amount of glue using the glue-gun and press the ‘foot’ into place. Hold until dry.

Cover the foot with more cotton wool glued on.

Can you imagine a family of these as a decoration? I can and think that would be a great gift for children to make a teacher.

This project takes a bit of set up by a grown up, but even quite young children can do the tissue paper part of the process, and that is where all the fun is. You will need coverseal, black paper and bits of tissue paper.

Cut a shape out of black paper and attach it to the sticky side of some coverseal. You could also draw a shape onto the ‘not-sticky’ side of the coverseal – if you do that make sure the lines are thick.

Stick bits of tissue paper onto the sticky side of the coverseal until all the sticky bits are covered up.

It does not matter if the tissue paper goes outside the lines.

Cut the shape out, following the edge of the black shape and trimming any overlapping bits of tissue in the process. Display in a window so the light from our special star can shine through the tissue paper.